The Scariest Horror Movie Monsters: Which Do You Want To Be?
Fearsome Foursome
The scariest horror movie monsters are used again and again by horror writers and filmmakers. Entire subgenres are dedicated to these creatures. They have captured the imagination of countless horror fans over the years.
Recently I polled the followers on my Instagram account with a burning question: which out of four famous horror monsters would you want to be? The creatures in question are demons, vampires, werewolves, and zombies. I also wanted to include ghosts and evil clowns. Alas, Instagram only allows four options in its story polls.
Decide for yourself. Which of these classic horror movie monsters would you choose to be? Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each. I’ll discuss the poll results, and my own pick, at the end.
Demon
Pros:
-Able to possess people (and sometimes animals, trees, and even corpses).
-Master manipulators who can detect human emotional vulnerabilities.
-Supernatural abilities such as immortality, levitation, telepathy, and telekinesis.
Cons:
-Vulnerable to religious artifacts and sacraments like crosses, holy water, and exorcisms.
-Some can only inhabit one location that they cannot escape from, especially if their abode is surrounded by iron barriers.
Vampire
Pros:
-Seductiveness. Vampires are often suave and attractive, allowing them to easily manipulate humans with their sex appeal.
-Immortality. They are technically dead but can exist indefinitely, often for centuries.
-The ability to shapeshift into other forms, such as bats.
-Able to crawl up walls, allowing them to access locked buildings and homes.
Cons:
-Religious artifacts like crucifixes can put them into a trance.
-Garlic. The smell repels vampires.
-A stake to the heart will give them the true death.
-Many can only enter a human’s home if they’re invited by the rightful owner.
-Sunlight. Their ultimate weakness. Vampires suffer an agonizing and fiery death if they’re exposed to the sun.
Werewolf
Pros:
-Superhuman strength. In terms of pure physical strength, werewolves are the most formidable monster out of the four.
-Enhanced hearing and smell. Like dogs and wolves, werewolves have much sharper senses than humans.
-Quick healers. They are much more durable than humans and recover quickly from injuries.
Cons:
-Silver. Lead bullets don’t necessarily bother werewolves, but silver can severely injure or kill them.
-Wolfsbane, a herb that can prevent werewolves from being able to transform.
-Many can only transform when there’s a full moon, forcing them to be in their human form most of the time.
-Werewolves often have no control over what they do. In many cases, they don’t even remember their lycanthrope activities while they’re in human form. If you’ve ever had a hangover after a night of heavy drinking, and couldn’t remember the night before, imagine that times infinity.
Zombie
Pros:
-Relentless single-minded resilience in pursuit of their only goal: devouring human flesh (and/or brains)!
-Endurance. Like vampires, zombies are technically already dead. But it takes a lot to truly kill them, with one exception that I mention in the cons section.
-Effective team players. One zombie isn’t usually hard to defeat or avoid, but good luck if a huge horde of ’em mob you!
Cons:
-Lack of intelligence. Zombies are easily the most stupid of these four monsters.
-Weak physical strength. Zombies are not particularly strong compared to the other horror monsters.
-Bullet to the head. One good head shot is usually enough to take down a zombie for good.
Results
And the winner of my poll is…vampires! Demons came in second. This didn’t surprise me. I think it’s clear that being a vampire or a demon would have more perks than going through life as a werewolf or a zombie.
In fact, zombies didn’t get a single vote. Most of the folks in zombie stories would rather die than join the undead masses, and I can’t blame them. Who would want be a shuffling, stinky, rotting undead creature? There are the rare sexy zombies, like Julie in Return of the Living Dead 3, but even they tend to suffer tragic fates.
As for me, it was a tough call between vampires and demons, but I’m going with the latter. Being a vampire would be fun, but the constant need to find humans to feed on would become tiresome.
Demons’ ability to possess people also sets them apart. The ability to levitate and move objects with my mind would kick ass, too!
